Baseball prospects are probably the toughest to gauge when compared to other sports. This is largely due to the fact that in many of the other professional sports, the athletes spend time developing in college before jumping to the pros.These players come into the league and sometimes are thrown directly into the mix. Sometimes they are given a year or two to develop, but there is no minor league system (aside from hockey). Since they spend three to four years in college, it's much easier to predict which young prospects will pan ...

Chicago, Oct. 14, 2003 — They counted down the outs in Wrigley Field, until finally there were none left to count.The Chicago Cubs are in their first World Series since 1945, with a chance to end a 95-year championship drought, after defeating the Florida Marlins, 3-1, in game six of their National League Championship series.The Cubs will play either the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees lead the ALCS, 3-2, with game six to be played in Yankee Stadium tomorrow night.Kicking off the outs countdown was actor/comedian Bernie Mac, a Chicago native, who sang "Take Me ...

When composing this lineup, there were some selections that caused some second-guessing and hesitation before the final decisions were made—not just whom to include, but where to place them in the field for those who played multiple positions. There was some internal debate on where to play Ernie Banks on the Chicago Cubs’ All-Time Team. He played parts of nine seasons at shortstop and 11 at first base, with some time at third base and in the outfield sprinkled in. The team is ordered as the positions are numbered on the field, except for the outfield positions, with a single ...

Chicago Cubs team president Theo Epstein may say that the 2013 season will be considered a failure if the team doesn't qualify for the playoffs."Postseason or bust" is the sort of ambition every fanbase wants to hear from its favorite team's front office. As Epstein himself said to reporters, including the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, there's no reason to bother building a team without setting that kind of goal. Every team aims to play in the postseason.But realistically, the Cubs aren't going to be one of the National League's five playoff teams this season. The team might avoid 100 losses ...

The saga of Sammy Sosa could have gone much differently had the Cubs traded him to the Yankees in 2000. At the time, Sosa was coming off of two historic seasons in which he hit 66 and 63 home runs, respectively. According to the Chicago Tribune, the offer from the Yankees was tempting to Cubs officials. MacPhail strongly considered trading Sosa to the Yankees. Rumors persisted that New York had offered an enticing package of second baseman Alfonso Soriano, outfielders Ricky Ledee and Jackson Melian and right-hander Jake Westbrook.The Cubs instead opted to sign Sammy to a six-year, $110 million deal. But ...

According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the Chicago Cubs have come to terms with free-agent outfielder Scott Hairston, pending a physical.
Sources: #Cubs in agreement on two-year deal with free-agent outfielder Scott Hairston, pending physical. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 24, 2013
This signing definitely solidifies the questionable right field position in Wrigley, a position that will probably be a two-man platoon shared by Nate Schierholtz and Scott Hairston. The odd man out now seems to be Brett Jackson, who seemed determined to break camp with the big league team when spring training ended.It sounds very logical to have Hairston and ...

Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are the last old-time, classic ballparks left standing. Perhaps the most amazing legacy of Bud Selig's 15 years as baseball commissioner has been the boom of ballpark building around MLB. Virtually every one of the 30 clubs are playing in a new or significantly renovated stadium. But Fenway Park in Boston has undergone significant changes over the past 10 years. Seats were added atop the Green Monster in left field. Concourses and clubhouses were expanded. Luxury seats and suites were added behind home plate. New HD and LED scoreboards were installed. Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, team president ...

The Chicago Cubs announced last week that they will be spending $300 million over a five-year span to renovate the venerable Wrigley Field. Renovations on the ballpark will commence in 2014 and will continue through the next five subsequent offseasons. The move to renovate the 99-year-old stadium has been discussed for years and will undoubtedly bring many positive changes to the structure and the surrounding neighborhood.However, one critical issue seems to have been forgotten. Wind! The wind speed and direction at Wrigley has always played an active part in the dynamics of the ballpark. In the early months of the ...

According to Fangraphs.com, the Chicago Cubs were ranked No. 22 out of 30 minor league baseball systems in 2012. According to those rankings, the organization was deep with regards to right-handed pitchers, yet very thin in the area of catcher and left-handed pitching.Not much has changed heading into 2013, as the team still lacks a left-handed pitcher or catcher in its top 20 prospects. In fact, there probably isn't even one ranked in the top 40 at this point.These two areas may be where the Cubs try to focus on building in the 2013 draft, but it is more than likely that the ...

The Chicago Cubs revealed plans for over $300 million in renovations to iconic Wrigley Field on Saturday, causing an uproar among some Cubs fans and applause from others. As an architecture major and lifelong Cubs fan, I am having an internal crisis as to how I feel about the plans for the beloved ballpark. Here is a breakdown of some of the renderings and plans proposed. Begin Slideshow